that's going to wrap it up for "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ here's a political announcement. a political announcement. i saw already this was like two days ago. take a look at this. >> he's been called an elitist. he vacations on martha's vineyard. he has been accused of ignoring the crisis in missouri and overlooking the concerns of the african-american community. hell, i could do that. paid for by romney, 2016. good morning, everybody. it is thursday, august 21st. welcome to "morning joe." a lot to get to this morning. >> boy, we do. >> on the front page of all the papers, we have got news that there was an attempt to rescue jim foley. we start there. the pentagon confirms that dozen of special operation troops unsuccessfully tried to rescue the journalist james foley and

other american hostages earlier this summer in syria. the captives were not at the targeted locations and foley was eventually murdered by islamic. >> people are very angry right now about not only about this murder. "the new york times" is reporting they angry this information was released. a lot of people feeling that the information was released so the president could look like he was really engaged. he, obviously, is getting hammered for going out golfing right after this horrifying news. the "daily news" has this on the front page. that actually cuts both ways. a lot of people talking about it. but can you imagine? i mean, both of you, if you're president of the united states and like the europeans pay out

these hostage ransoms all of the time but barack obama didn't and what a terrible choice to have to make. >> it is a terrible choice and other countries do it. president obama is vowing not to let up the campaign against the terrorists responsible for the bloodshed. here he is yesterday. >> jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world. no just god would stand what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. from governments across the middle east there has to be a common to extract this cancer and a clear rejection of this ideologies. we agree on that a group like

isil has no place. >> he was seen smiling on the golf course moments after, along with alonzo mourning, nba star. before this, you heard from foley's parents as well in a news conference so a lot of people are feeling this picture shows a president that is disengaged and a president who doesn't have a sense of tone in terms of the moment. >> there actually two ways to look at this. because, you know, your first instinct is to look at this. right? >> yeah. >> and to say, how are -- and it's the truth. there's another way to look at it too, which is, i mean, you know, george w. bush told us to go shopping, to go to malls after 9/11, show those terrorists. here, i think there's probably one or two terrorists in isis,

because this is how they make their money, right? al qaeda funded their operations by kidnapping europeans and getting ransom money, right? and so they are negotiating with spock with a pitching wedge here. he is spock. maureen dowd calls him spock. he is spock. i'm sure there may even be one or two terrorists, with willie, over in vae right now looking at him going, wow, that is one cold bastard. like he goes golfing on martha's ven yard. people might be watching are you criticizing the president or not? i don't know what i'm doing. i just know that this is how terrorists fund their organizations and if the president were in the white house reading his hands and weeping, no, he is out golfing. and it's horrible for the parents, but it does send a message to the terrorists.

i'm sure barack obama would say, you know, if we can't go golfing at an exclusive golf course at martha's vineyard and the terrorists have already won. >> i don't think you can say that. >> i'm not making light of any situation, i'm merely pointing out these are horrible, horrible optics domestically but internationally, willie, for terrorists, it's basically like screw you, screw you. we are not going to live by your rules. >> yes. >> try to follow that one. do you know what i'm saying? >> i follow what you're saying. we know this president, this white house has no time or patience what we call optics, theater. i'm doing the job. if i play golf once in a while, so be it. in this case, i always hate the vacation and golf criticism that happens every summer with every president. >> because they should be working 24 hours a day. >> lets jaw say right here. presidents are always working even on a -- whether on a golf

course or behind a desk. >> yes. >> they are always working. >> yes. so that is the first part. the second part is but in this case, you had such a horrific act and people saw it and it was on the front page of newspapers and the family was crying. you'd think out of respect, just for the family even, forget what the press thinks about it, for the family maybe take a step back an quietly go about your job. he is attacking isis relentlessly right now. air strikes again yesterday and air strikes this entire month and not like he is sitting back and doing nothing. >> i don't think to confuse anybody here, mika. i could not have do it. i could not have gone out and played golf. i just couldn't have done it. that says, maureen dowd always calls him spock inspect . he is kind of spock. in this case, as maddening it may seem -- i do wonder, though. when you look at these terrorists, what are they

thinking? like, they just traded in a war weary sleeping giant. >> right. >> for a pissed off country and the story always ends the same! let's see. no, it didn't. osama bin laden, no, he got a bullet through his eye. saddam hussein got -- no. we actually ripped off his head from his body after he was hung. dresden and nagasaki, they have placed a huge target on their backs by doing this and i'm serious. when are the bad guys going to understand that it's just better to walk on the other side of the street. go ahead. pick on europeans. they will pay your ransom. they are on a vacation from history. again, i'm not being facetious here. there is no jingoism here.

this is just stupid. >> nothing speaks the conscience of war weary americans and pictures we saw yesterday all over the front pages. horrifying and you can't just sit and let it go by. >> you cannot let this go by. they have exposed themselves. >> your father, your brother, your uncle. >> they have exposed themselves as the cancer they are. the president of the united states are now calling them a cancer has has to be cut off. >> everyone will agree. >> the attacks now will only accelerate and have as of yesterday. to washington now. bbc state correspondent is back from lebanon. kim, thank you for being with us. >> great to be here. >> what can you tell us what happened, looking at the commando raid, the attempt by special forces of the united states, to go after and rescue jim foley, a failed attempt because he had been moved by the time the special forces got there? >> first off, i'd like to point out we are macking today the one year anniversary of the chemical

weapon attacks against syrians just outside damascudamascus. that provoked a brief moment of international outrage at the time which almost led to american and european military strikes against syria, which in the end did not happen. syria one year on is even in a worse president. we heard from the french president yesterday saying if the international community had shown a bit more resolve in pushing for a transition in syria, in other words, if the u.s. and its european allies had gone for strikes, perhaps isis were not to be where it is today. >> kim, can i ask you about that? because there is a debate, obviously, going on in the united states between two pretty powerful democrats. hillary clinton, you know better than anybody, and barack obama saying that it's, quote, fantasy. her position and the president of france position. what is the feeling throughout the international community,

throughout the european community will what would have happened? are they on the side of the president or hillary clinton as far as intervening in syria before this madness took over the entire country? >> well, my reading from talking to european officials and from being in the arab world the u.s. left a vacuum in the region. that is very much hillary clinton's view as well. it's debatable, of course, but look at the situation on the ground at the moment, that is very much the feeling that europeans have and i do believe that because of what is happening in iraq, because of what we saw happen to james foley and because of this attempt to rescue american hostages in syria, i think only a matter of time until the press will have to consider the possibility of strikes against islamic militants in syria. the conundrum there is, of

course, ininadvertently he may shore your president assad who says he is fighting islamic militants. >> joining us from erbil, iraq, nbc chief global responsibility bill neil li with the latest on the ground there. bill? >> reporter: yes, well, the u.s. air strikes have not stopped since the murder of jim foley. there were at least 14 yesterday bringing to 84 the on total of air strikes in the mosul dam since this campaign started. the big question where did this campaign end? what are its goals? initially stop genocide against a religious minority and to protect you u.s. facilities here in erbil. why is the u.s. continuing its campaign? president obama said yesterday that we will act, we will

confront isis, but for how much longer? and how deep is the involvement of the u.s. here in northern iraq going to be? it's easy to start a campaign, not so easy to end it. interestingly, this military operation, unlike so many others in the past that, desert storm, desert fox does not have a name. there is no brand on this operation and no end in sight. >> that is the question, what is the objective now? how far does the united states go? bill, thanks so much for your reporting on the ground in iraq. appreciate. officials hope the tide is turning if ferguson, missouri, following the second straight night of reduced demonstrations. it follows a visit by attorney general eric holder who met with captain ron johnson along with college students and community leaders. he says he understands why there is mistrust of police. recalling when he was stopped twice for speeding and had his car searched. attorney general holder rejected criticism of his trip to ferguson. >> i need to be here, you know?

i was a little disturbed to see people questioning why i was here. my answer to that would be why would i be any other place than right here, right now, to talk to the people in this area who are deserving of our attention and we want to help as best we can. >> prosecutors began presenting evidence to a grand jury which will determine if the officer who shot 18-year-old michael brown at least six times should be charged. joining us now from ferguson, nbc's craig melvin. the reports from the ground last night, craig, relative peace. is that what you saw? >> it was peaceful and calm for the second straight night. monday into tuesday, nearly 70 arrests. tuesday into wednesday, more than 50 arrests. last night here, as of 1:00 a.m., there were six arrests. by and large, the half dozen folks were arrested for failure to disperse, disturbing the

peace. captain johnson indicated that law enforcement felt like the tide might be beginning to turn here in ferguson. we should note that there were some pretty severe thunderstorms at one point last night, but even before that, we saw the smallest, quietest crowd of protesters we have seen so far on the ground here. of course, the highlight or the headline yesterday, i should say, attorney general eric holder on the ground for several hours meeting with community leaders and many with captain johnson as well and also some time with the congressional delegation and talked with missouri governor jay nixon, in addition to speaking from the heart about his own experiences as a young black man in america. he also -- we should remember here, this is the same attorney general just last week was somewhat critical of the response here in ferguson. at one point saying they should get these damn tanks out of here. but, again, based on what i saw yesterday, based on the folks i talked to last night, it

appears, it appears that, right now, peace and order are about to be restored to ferguson. >> we can hope. craig, thank you very much. >> i love that line that eric holder gave, which is, you know, people are criticizing him for being there. he said where else would i be? i don't always agree with this guy but he is right. where else would he be, right? >> it makes no sense. i want to show you a piece of video that came. it's from tuesday night. local police officer threatening what appeared to be a peaceful protester on the streets. >> oh, my gosh. gun raid. gun raid. >> my hands are up, bro. my hands are up. >> hands up. hands up. >> raid [ bleep ] [ bleep ] hands up. >> get back. get back. >> you're going to kill him. >> he is threatening to kill him. >> get back. >> what is your name, sir? [ bleep ]. >> your name is [ bleep ]

yourself go [ bleep ] yourself. hello, officer. >> officer, he is trying to kill me. >> what are you doing? >> i know you guys are watching. [ bleep ] he had to be told by another officer to -- >> pointing his gun at people for no reason. >> the st. louis county police department says the officer has been relieved of duty. >> what in the hell? >> i would say there has been a lot of discussion around the imbalance of the police officer in st. louis. it's a bad mix. that was horrendous. i'm making no excuse for that guy. it shows they are tolgs tally unmatched to today's times. >> this guy is pointing a live weapon?

what is going on here? >> he being gotated, yes. >> you'd think two weeks into this the learning curve you're not waving a semiautomatic weapon at a crowd with media all around. >> the media is everywhere and this guy in the middle of it pointing a gun. >> i just looked at the video early. i know there was, obviously, someone was rolling television video. this guy was clear knowledgeable that he was being videotaped. so at least you would think he would stop for fear of being seen doing that. >> so he says -- >> but he shouldn't be doing that. >> i'm sorry, mika. he said he thought he saw somebody with a gun so he raised his weapon. he thought he was being confronted. turned out it was a bb gun. he saw something he thought was a gun. the police say they relieved him because of the way he treated the crowd and not the approach he used. >> i would agree with that. if a crowd is goating you, that

is incite them even more to tell them, what he said? it's incredible. incredible. >> but, listen. this is, again, this is bush league. there's so many amateurs that have been down there. i sure as hell wouldn't know what to do. >> my gosh, a terrible situation. >> but there are great police officers across america, disciplined forces that know exactly how to do this. and at some point -- isn't the national guard called in? >> yeah, they have been there, yes. >> no question it's a hard job. >> no. i can't even imagine being in that position. i'm not trained to be in that position but there are a lot of great cops. a lot of good cops who are. >> still ahead on "morning joe," 13-year-old pitching ace mo' ne davis is making mat headlines for her pitching in the little league world series. bring you her story in a bit.

nick opperman brings us some bizarre shower thoughts. >> if hillary clinton wins in 2016, it will be the first time two presidents have had sex with each other. >> what? >> that never rossed my mind. thank you, nick. >> we really appreciate that. >> i'm flaed he pglad he put th in my mind. >> that is, obviously, in hollyweird. a cat is put on a life saving diet. oh, snucts! >> i want that cat. >> the cat is on a diet. >> life saving diet! what is the cat eating? chihuahuas for breakfast? >> first, here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> kale chips for that cat! good morning, everyone.

two things to talk about. the heat wave that is gripping the country and then what is going to happen with this tropical disturbance and will it affect florida and the southeast coast. ? we are starting off with your morning commute, if you're in minnesota a lot of rain out and some severe storms. the heat wave is full fledged and it will be here at least a week. from texas all the way to florida and as far north as st. louis, kansas city. that is where we are watching the peak of this heat. easily 95 degrees for about all of next seven days in a row. the heat index will be worse. notice the temperatures in memphis. no signs of a cool down right through the beginning of next week. here is your thursday forecast. i got 95 plus in at least 13 states so that is one of the hottest temperature forecasts we have had so far this summer and it continues right into your friday. and as far as the tropics go the hurricane hunters will fly into this tropical wave out here today. this is projected.

yesterday we were thinking the caribbean and gulf and it shifted to the north and now thinking puerto rico and drub and tuesday near florida or the bahamas so all eyes will stay on that. it's too early to tell about intensity or anything like that because the land interaction down there in the mountainous terrain of the dominican republic. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪

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has cost them more than $111 million. >> oh, my gosh. >> "usa today." aaa estimates 35 million americans will venture 50 miles from home labor day weekend with 9 to 10 traveling in cars. >> do you go were in labor day weekend? >> i'm going to have a stay staycation. >> gas is down. >> snoosk, the cat, heading to rehab after weighing just four pounds away from the guinness world record for the world's heaviest kitty. >> they say the family brought the cat named snooks to be euthanized last week. he weighed 35 1/2 pounds and couldn't each walk. the they asked if snooks could

go to a foster family and he's on a diet as snooks gets down to 12 pounds he can go up to adoption. maybe he needs baricatric surgery to help him out. >> if you're four pounds away from the record, get the record and then come back down. >> it's like swimming across the english channel. seeing like normandy. >> get snooks to break the record then put him on a diet. a family was removed from a flight after requesting the airline ban nuts because the child is allergic. their child. the family was delayed for a day while they negotiated with the airline. united says while it does not serve bags of nuts, some foods may contain trace amounts in the ingredients. the airline told the family they are, quote, not a nut-free

airline for operational reasons. from our parade of papers. the orlando sentinel. seaworld will not appeal a ruling requiring trainers out of the water during killer whale shows. the decision was passed down from osha after a trainer was killed by an orca in 2010. the subject of last year's documentary "blackfish." sea world voluntarily removed trainers following the incident and not allowed them back in since. the park also plans to expand the tank size for orcas. >> this documentary has hurt seaworld. they are struggling right now. from nbc news.com. a woman narrowly missing getting hit by lightning. a woman and her daughter were filming outside when lightning struck the ground one foot away. the mother and daughter are okay but lost their hearing for about

a minute after the incident. >> oh, my gosh. the desert sun, after two months, the man squatting in a palm springs, california, apartment, obtained on air b&b has finally left the building. the squatter made headlines in july after refusing to leave the condo. i was wondering where you were, joe. despite only paying for 30 days. since he was living in the condo over a month he was protected by california ten antilaws. the homeowner said he left after incident and the apartment is in good condition but she is not sure she will list the apartment on-site. that company was doing so well. >> they have had some problems in new york. >> what have you done? >> they rent the apartments for reasons other than sleeping. >> yeah. >> i didn't think you guys considered that a problem. >> lots and lots. still ahead -- >> can you imagine how much

lysol you have to buy to clean that up? >> look at this guy. >> this is the game of thrones act nicknamed the mountain and what he does in his spare time. look out. plus, live to richmond, virginia, where former governor took the stand yesterday in his own defense. wait until you hear what he said. up next the hottest most reads of the morning including "wall street journal" calling for another war in the middle east. all that and more when "morning joe" comes back. [ female announcer ] birdhouse plans. nacho pans.

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♪ it is 6:30 on the east coast. time for the must read opinion. joining the table pulitzer prize winning journalist jon meacham. and kim gattis with us as well from world. six years into this presidency, we know barack obama can do empathy and know he can channel a family ae's grief for a murde son. we don't know if he can muster the will and fortitude to defeat and enemy that is growing in strength and danger on his watch. even if mr. obama absolves

himself and still blames george w. bush for his middle eastern troubles, that does him and the world no good now. isis is marching while he is commander in chief. mr. obama must get over his political fixation and mr. bush's war. mr. president, we share your disgust for james foley killers. we need to know if you're willing to do what it needs to be done to defeat these enemies of america and a civilized world. hasn't he done that to an extent? >> he took the first steps. and last week saying it's a humanitarian mission and he was just opening the door for a more aggressive approach. the president now calling isis a cancer. they are the taliban and don't want to live out their days in dusty villages in afghanistan.

they want to come to us and kill us. >> so far the approach has been targeted specific air strikes in response to specific actions from isis. there is one line in this "wall street journal" op-ed says mr. obama must get over his political mfixation. that is where isis is in iraq. >> i think to me the great question, and this is a hurry layman's point and what does that mean. the murder of james foley is an attack on our country area our values and the president was very articulate about that. one part of presidential leadership here is explaining the problem we face and the options that are commensurate and practical to undertake and with isis, remember a group that al qaeda thought was too radical. i'll say that again. al qaeda thought they were too

radical. this is a stubborn and incredibly difficult enemy so what do we do? >> explain what happened with the brutal murder of james foley. heri contacted him and said cut that out, that's too brutal. he said just shoot them in the head and be done with it because he understood the response this provoked. >> exactly. >> and i think what i would want to know, i think it's a fundamental operation of, again, of the presidency beginning with fdr who did it brilliantly, we can see what the problem is. right? >> right. >> we have an even more stubborn terrorist foe that is geographically in place but disbursed. "wall street journal" seems to be calling for ground forces. willie mentioned air strikes. what are the options?

>> by the way, the map, kim, has gotten so much more complex. as you said earlier, the man who barack obama, i believe rightly said must go, assad, is suddenly our ally in this battle. the iranians suddenly an ally in this battle insofar as they want to see isis stamped out as well. >> they do. although i don't think anybody in washington would describe the iranians and president assad as america's allies today. >> no, they wouldn't, but they certainly are the enemy of our enemy. >> they are. they are. but also president assad in syria was very much key in helping isis develop and form. he is the one who released dozens of islam militants from his prison in 2011 and some of those are now part of isis. when it comes to the strategy, how do you deal with a movement like this in the region, that is

potentially changing the nature of societies for the foreseeable fut if they are allowed to operate for a very long time, it does require some military action. i think the president is going about it the right way. it is steady, but surely going forward with more aid for the iraqis, more military aid for the per sh mare stmergas. >> kim, thank you for your perspective and appreciate you being here. >> thanks for having me. >> she is talking about we don't see enough fighting isis inside the arab world. these sort of tactics are going to cause that to happen. i talked about szarkari.

he blew up a wedding iraq and arabs said we want no part of. anbar province. this is annihilation. >> they have a lot of money. these are guys rolling in with tanks. you know, we have targets that the united states can strike. these are not guys hiding in caves. they have forces they are rolling through iraqi cities. coming up next on a much different note. pitching sensation mo'ne davis, the 13-year-old fresh off the cover of "sports illustrated" back on the mound last night at the little league world series trying to pitch her squad into the championship game. we will see how she did. plus, alabama football fan and the guy who poisoned the tree, remember him? harvey updike? he is back. we will explain why this may be good news for auburn fans next. we will be right back with more "morning joe." ♪

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that's a live picture right now williamsport, pennsylvania. just a few hours ago, the sensation mo'ne davis was on the bump. more than 30,000 people. it was like 35,000 actually turned out to see her. she is just off the cover of "sports illustrated" at 13 years old leading her philly team against a squad against las vegas. she struck out six batters in 2 1/3 innings and gave you three runs and left the game after 55 pitches on a pitch count. the short start means davis will be eligible to pitch in tonight's elimination game. they lost last night but they get another chance tonight. 8-1 vegas won last night.

vegas advances to the u.s. title game on saturday. if pennsylvania can win tonight against chicago and mo'ne davis pitches tonight and they have a chance to play on saturday for the title. what an incredibly story. >> remember harvey updike. the alabama fan arrested for poisoning a tree. he pleaded guilty to the crime and spent time in jail. now updike make his amends with the auburn community after agreeing to attend a charity event in september where the fans can dunk i'm in a dunk tank or throw pies at his face. the event was meant to raise money for the family of an alabama boy that died of cancer in july. >> i don't know if that is a good idea. we will see how that goes. let's go to big leagues. milwaukee brewers fans standing in the aisle with his hands full and gets his beer knocked over by another guy going after a foul ball.

when the broadcast booth caught wind of what happened, they sent him another round of beers in a fancy souvenir glass. he didn't get the ball but at least he gets a fresh beer and a souvenir glass. that's a huge win for him! >> that is a huge win! daddy is on tv. >> and it's no small beer. >> those things, when you have the girlfriend that the guy, like, dunks away and those are awful. >> never do that. always go for it and try to protect her. >> exactly. >> i always like the guys who are rolling their kids but catch the ball. that's a good one. coming up, bob mcdonnell denies any wrong doing while defending the role money in politics. his day in court is next. plus a bunch of kids re-enact our favorite emmy nominated television shows. what? "morning joe" continues after a short break. [ woman ] the cadillac summer collection is here.

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now house of cards. 49 past the hour. former governor bob mcdonnell

will be back on the witness stand today where he is expected to offer new details about his troubled marriage. the virginia republican testified yesterday in his own defense and he is accused of exchanging favors for tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans from a major donor. "the washington post" describes him as cool and unruffled under questioning. he described his rise to the top of virginia politics and the significance of sharing the same office as thomas jefferson. he also cited examples of how he has denied donors requests, insisting he never gave special access to the businessmen who offered loans and vacation and luxury items. mcdonnell testified about his wife saying she was tense from his very first days in office and instead of celebrating the governor, he said she was yelling at him over tension of becoming first lady. just moments later, he fielded a call from president obama, the pressures of his marriage were at the core of his defense.

he says he couldn't have conspired with his wife because their relationship was in such trouble. >> governor, was this difficult? we have heard a lot of things said about your wife and from you today. was this hard for you today? >> of course. i'm talking about marriage and finances are hard. >> governor, if your father were here, what would he tell you? what would his be with you if he was here? >> he would say be honest. >> that is just heart breaking. heart wrenching. >> his attorney was saying as it continues today they are focusing on the marriage itself. i don't know. i'm torn. it's hard to watch from the outside. obviously, he was one of the most promising politicians to become the governor of virginia, his campaign was pretty brilliant actually, given the tone at the times. he got what needed to be done to get elected and address the concerns of virginia residents.

>> it was legal what he took. i just don't understand how any governor could have taken all of those gifts. >> or not known about -- >> gwynagain, legal about it. you look at this testimony and as we say in northwest florida, his wife was a run-away beer truck. she was a mess from day one. >> chuck thoodd brought up this may be the way they are avoiding to attack this. what they want to do is avoid jail time. >> chuck todd can say that all he wants. >> he brought up an interesting -- >> no. there is one witness after another after another talking about her horrible behavior in the governor's mnansion and thee is reams of testimony that suggest that this just isn't a cute planned defense. >> it's raises that larger point about -- you know this --

politicians who spend a lot of people with rich people which they now have to do because rich people have money and they need money to run campaigns. you lose that perspective and suddenly you see everyone around you that you spend your time with has a lot of stuff. >> yeah. >> so it's a natural kind of -- wait a minute, i want that stuff too. >> and they all love you, willie, to do things that will make them millions and millions of more dollars. >> yes. >> i know this. you're living in a shack and these guys -- >> yeah. >> zillionares. >> what a horrible thing to do to save your hide to expose the faults in your maermg to the world and put them out there but they put themselves in that spot. coming up at the top of the hour a new war in iraq? david rotors was once held captive by the taliban. he said new policy needs to be on paying ransoms. >> he was the reporter who escaped from the taliban and

quoted this morning in "the new york times" saying, hey, america and europe is not being straight about this. it's time to have this debate on -- out in the open and i think we are about to and it's great to have david here. >> fascinating to hear from him. he is joining the table. plus senator mark pryor goes with nonnot willing to do. explain the surprise campaign tactic he is using. first, our first frontal ice bucket -- >> where are we going? >> not only am i ready and willing to accept this challenge, i am, to my knowledge, the first to do it absolutely make it. >> hollyweird is coming up straight ahead. we will be right back. ♪ huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know words really can hurt you? what...? jesse don't go! jesse...no!

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♪ all right. joe. >> passport required. >> oh, god. >> only common sense allowed. >> i'm accepting this segment. >> it's hard. >> begrudgingly. >> begrudgingly. >> under did your res. >> we are paying her. >> bill karins, does he put the weird in hollyweird or is it more skivvy? >> just kind of pervy. >> nobody is more dialed into hollywood than bill karins. >> you got ari. jerry weintraub. and meteorologist bill karins. >> black tie, red carpet, that's me, baby. >> and dirty underwear.

>> uncalled for. sneaking a peak. muscle on top of muscle and presidential first. let's get hollyweird. joe is admitting he had a thing like the rest of us for sofia before the two started dating. before the white house correspondents dinner in may he was taught taking a peek. >> i got busted! >> reporter: have you wondering what gregor does in his spare time? he is mika mad' me scary! the 6'9" easily won europe's strongest competition and shredding his shirt for good nature. >> i am the future! yes! >> frightening you so much. >> a bloody fool if he didn't. he is freakish big and freakish strong. >> while some are continuing to turn out for the ice bucket

challenge videos, we prefer to keep you appraised of only the most hollyweird among them. >> being an amphibian it turns out getting drenched by freezing cold water could actually make me go totally dormant and my heart could stop, but no matter! oh! oh! >> california has been in a drought so i improvised. cook! >> reporter: finally, we give you parks and recreation star who is reading some of the most profound things you ever pon pondered in a shower. >> if your shirt isn't tucked into your pants, then your pants is tucked into your shirt. the person who would proofread hitler's speeches was a gram ya

gna grammar nazi. if hillary clinton wins in 2016, it will be the first time two presidents have had sex with each other. >> my favorite you didn't see there. i think joe would relate to this. if humans could fly, we would consider it exercise and never do it. >> you would never do it. >> thank you, bill. >> definitely not the weird he puts into it but it's something. >> next hour of "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world. no just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. isil has no value of human beings. gr goverts and people across the middle east there has to be a common to extract this cancer so

it never spreads and a clear rejection of this. one thing we can all agree on that a group like isil has no place in the 21st century. welcome back to "morning joe" opinion joining us now on set senior editor of the news website the quarts gideon lidthd field and david rhoades who was held captive by the taliban for seven months before escaping. great news this hour especially the news we have to cover this hour. special operation troops were reported unsuccessfully to rescue james foley and other american hostages in syria this summer. the captives were not at the targeted location and foley was ultimately murdered by islamic militants. officials say one u.s. commando was injured in the mission and several militants were killed. the u.s. refuse to pay ransom

for its citizens held hostage. in a touching news conference, foley's parents spoke of their son and the other american whose life is being threatened. >> jim believed in our country. we're a great country. jim was a great american and he believed in the very best of our country, so i just -- i just pray that, as a country, we can come together and help there be peace on earth. just pray for that. and we pray that somehow steven and the others might be spared. >> it's such a heart breaking moment. it was, i mean, just an extraordinary painful experience. i was reading early this morning about "the new york times" recounting it and, you know, david, obviously, has his own story about being kidnapped and

being in the hands of the taliban. david, you said "the times" quoted you thorge as saying this. the payment of ransoms and abduction of foreigners must be emerge from the shadows and it must be publicly debated. american and european policymakers should be forced to answer for their actions. >> other countries do it. >> and i was stunned reading this article that this is al qaeda's primary source of funding now is capturing westerners and getting ransom. so you say we must be held to account for our actions. what actions are those? >> well, i think that what has happened is -- i think the best tribute to jim foley is to debate this. i talked to the foley family. they were told by jim's captors to not go public because the captors, the kidnappers thought an easier way to get a ransom. i can't at all about all of the cases going on and we need to

have this debate. there is a debate should the u.s. government pay or not. >> what you've seen up close, closer than any american, first of all, should we keep it in the shadows? should we listen to the terrorists and keep it quiet? or do we need to know an american is held hostage? >> i think it refers to case-to-case and you should in the end refer to what the family wants to do. there were plaqueoublackouts an didn't work in our case. the demand for foley was a hundred million dollars and the problem is when the europeans are paying huge amounts of money, there has been 125 million you talked about that has gone to al qaeda, the record would france in 2013 paid $10 million each, 40 million total for four hostages. and -- >> should we pay that ransom? because the market is, obviously, going up. >> yes. i think it's wrong to have the government pay. i think it creates an incentive.

why isn't the united states having this debate with its european allies? why isn't there a joint international approach? >> that is my question. >> for jim foley's sake, let's have a strategy. >> how heart breaking as an american president to sit there, talk to the family and say your son may have to die. i can't pay them. which i thank god i was not in the position that president obama was had in when he had to make that choice but he made the choice. we are not going to pay these terrorists even if your son dies a terrible death. but you would say that the president did the right thing based on what is best for this country and what is best for other journalists in the long run? >> yes. it's a painful situation but the problem is the kidnappers. they create these situations. what they did to jim was absolutely despicable and cowardly. we are helping them by not talking about it, by having no agreement on how do we, you know, reduce kidnappings.

>> so are the french -- i opened this up. gideon, i don't know if you know. do we know? is the french government moving our way after paying 40 million last year or other governments moving our way or are the europeans paying the ransoms? >> the tendency is to increase ram coneso manies. i think david is right there needs to be a discussion in this strategy. it's very, very difficult to change that dynamic because it involves at least for a short term the likelihood people will be kidnapped and killed in horrendous ways and until the kidnappers understand that they are not going to get any more money this way, they will keep on doing it. >> wes, i wasn't really saying it sotongue in cheek. a lot of americans were horrified. where is "the daily news" here?

give it to me really quickly. the optics of this is horrible domestically and i wasn't even saying it tongue in cheek. i think there is probably an isis commander or two that sees this and goes, wow, he is a cold son of a bitch but, you know, the president has made it very clear, this president has made it very clear he's not going to play by their rules. >> i think even before that, i think isis has known, you know, the execution, the usage of drone strikes they have increased dramatically under president obama. >> can i ask you this? you fought over there. there is no way to attach logic to these actions. but why the hell would they do that? they have to know they are putting a target on their back. they have to know how it ended for osama bin laden, for saddam hussein. we are a war weary nangs they

have just forced to confront us and have the president call them a cancer. >> looking at the escalation happening rights now is the situation we are facing. the issue with targeted air strikes and targeted military strikes, period, is that there norm come two things along with those. one, you're dealing with a rational partner a back door and second you only have a force that can then go and fill in where the vacuum is created you will help to create. >> we don't have that in syria or iraq. >> you don't have that in either place. it's interesting how this relates back then to the idea of negotiations. these negotiations and ideas for prisoner swaps have been things that have been long debated within the united states. we recently just had issues where you have u.s. prisoners that were being returned back to the u.s. for prisoner swaps. we are now venturing into new territory is on the monetary piece and this is something i agree. >> international conversation. >> international coordination about the monetary piece because the other piece has been there.

>> let's go to iraq and we are talking to nbc news chief global correspondent bill neely. he were talking about this last hour. things seemed a little more simple in 2003. bad guy running irks, gee take him out of power and set up a stable government. now here in 2014, obviously, everything is shattered. the nation states of syria and iraq have been shattered and find ourselves in a bizarre position of the same thing in assad and iran. where do we go from here? >> reporter: well, i think that is absolutely the big question for the u.s. administration. it said at the beginning that it was launching these air strikes to help to avoid a genocide of their people at the hands of isis. isis has been driven away from erbil but we are continuing the air strikes.

there were another 14 yesterday. they are almost certainly continuing today. there is a sense perhaps of division, even of muddle in the strategy of the united states. for example, it was almost exactly this time last year that hundreds of syrian civilians damascus were almost gassed by the assad regime. president obama promised air strikes if something like that happened. no air strikes happened and he did a deal with assad's main ally. if that was okay why was it not okay on syrian civilians who were gassed in damascus? if president obama bombs isis in iraq, why does he not bomb isis in syria and that would put him in an incredibly uncomfortable alliance with president assad and that is probably policy wise what is stopping any u.s. air

strikes on the syrian side of the border. so this whole thing, as you say, going back to 2003, it's incredibly complex but the u.s. is dipping its toe in the water of the air strikes. the question is strategically it's easy to get involved and it's easy to start this. where do you stop? >> british prime minister david cameron cut his vacation short and has put out a statement about the murder of foley. investigators believe foley's murder was british, which bill, again, raises concerns about terrorists with western passports. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: yeah. just going back to your previous conversation before i answer that, when you say europeans have paid money, the british government, for example, has a long record of never paying ransom money for hostages just like the u.s. government. on your point about western involvement in this, it is reckoned by british intelligence that there may be up to 500

britons who have gone to syria and iraq to fight on behalf of isis. by the way, u.s. intelligence reckons there may be up to a hundred americans. british intelligence, at the moment, are examining that video of the killing of james foley for any clues as to who his killer might be. from his action, he is quite clearly -- >> we lost our connection with bill. is he there? all right. we lost the satellite with bill. >> get him back. >> david, we do need to clarify, using donald rumsfeld terms from three. it's chocolate. great britain has not engaged in those negotiations and taken a very tough stand. >> there was a british hostage decapitated in 2009. german and swiss captors held with him were ransomed and freed. also israeli does prisoner

exchanges. they exchanged a thousand prisoners for one israeli soldier. >> which i always found shocking, gideon, that the israelis would trade one soldier for a thousand palestinian prisoners, some of whom committed the most horrific of acts. >> of course, in israeli, this is every time this happens, it's a huge national debate should they do this or should they not do this. >> right. >> right. >> but, again, it's one of the dynamics once the thing starts the expectation is generated and a culture in israeli you don't leave a soldier in the field. so part of the soldier knowing that being willing to go out and fight is the knowledge they are -- >> is that the argument? >> all politics is local so in all of these countries, the french public expects the government to act and the israeli public says don't leave anyone behind. when barack obama doesn't leave beau bergdahl dined it's a furor

here. that's is so hard getting an agreement because french politicians and german politicians have a different dynamic. they have to act in these cases. >> but i don't understand why. i'm sorry. if it's a stupid question, but what would be the reason to pay large sums of money to a terrorist organization to help further feed -- >> i think a distinction between exchanging prisoners for a soldier and paying ransom money for people -- whether soldiers or civilians. i think there needs to be a separate debate about each of them. >> sure. >> the conditions and reasons for doing them is different. >> we would all agree when you pay money for a terrorist kidnapper and terrorist ransom all you're doing is strengthening the terror outfit and encouraging more. this is like what we were dealing with? sudan. a lot of evangelical groups would pay to get children out of slavery for 30 dollars and a year later they were paying $60

to get them out. then it was a hundred dollars to get them out of slavery. >> i think in the u.s. military there is an expression they say people first and then the military. we will take care of our people but never lose sight of the larger mission. if there comes a situation where any type of scenario will end up hurting the larger mission, we have to remember people first, mission always. >> that is what you go into battle, that is your mindset and if you're captured, you're not expecting the united states to sacrifice the mission for you. you know that when you put on the uniform, right? >> we understand that the united states is going to move heaven and earth to get us out as was indicated because we will not leave a soldier or sailor or airmen or marine behind but as always, it's mission always. >> and you know what you're signing up. >> david and gideon, thank you so much. it's really -- >> thank you for coming in.

we really appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," are americans turning their children into narcissistic little monsters? >> yes. we don't have to do the next segment. >> have you been in a grocery store and seen kids yelling at their parents? i feel like going up, what are you doing? have you seen that? kids are screaming at parents. like -- i feel like going up to them, what are you doing? in charge. >> he is the wholefoods disciplinarian. >> no i am not. >> i will say your children are extremely polite. >> i can't even -- you know, knock on wood. >> i have teenagers. there's time. plus, overnight little league sensation and america's sweetheart. more on the great story of mo'ne davis. she is amazing! >> we have heard from his wife and his sister and the key witness jonny williams but now

it's bob mcdonnell's turn. what the former governor of virginia had to say for himself. we go live to the courthouse in richard. >> speaking of our little monster. bill karins with the forecast. >> show the mirrors you have. >> mirrors or mirror? >> plural. we will do it later. what is the weather? one area of interest. florida or the southeast or the gulf you know the time of the year the storms can come at you. right now a tropical disturbance but could develop into a tropical storm or depression over the weekend so we need to pay attention to it and heading into the general vicinity of puerto rico and the dominican republic over the weekend. tuesday to wednesday, i circled this area where i believe the storm is located from near florida to off the coast safely. that is why this will be a close call. some of our computers developed it into a stronger storm and some barely have it a weak storm at all. a lot to watch there. the heat goes, extreme heat continues in the middle of the country. a lot of bad thunderstorms this morning.

if you're traveling in and around minneapolis and minnesota especially south of minneapolis and driving between minneapolis all the way to chicago, we have a lot of heavy rain heading your way and the roads are going to be treacherous and the airports too are going to have problems. that's the travel trouble spot today. the extended forecast in st. louis. summer has been here two months and now it arrives. probably what everyone wants it to go away. it's nearly a hundred all weekend long into next week in st. louis. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪ to be on your own with no direction home ♪ (son) oh no...

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and find out more about our two-year price guarantee. comcast business. built for business. perhaps the only person who can save bob mcdonnell from jail is himself. the former virginia governor took the stand yesterday in his own defense accused of exchanging favors for tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans. nbc news national correspondent peter alexandra joins us live

from richmond with more on the trial there. peter? >> reporter: good morning to you. this is certainly the moment that richmond and a lot of this country has been waiting for and right out of the gates when he took the stand, bob mcdonnell began distancing himself from his wife. legal experts here say that what the 71st governor of this state says and, most importantly, whether the jurors believe him will go a long way in determining whether or not he and his wife end up in federal prison facing a crush of cameras bob mcdonnell is taking the stage. defending accusations trade the prestige of his office for personal game in the norm form of lavish gifts and vacations and right hand behind the wheel of a ferrari thanks to businessman jonny williams looking to up his supplements. their marriage was so badly broken, mcdonnell described running on adrenaline the day

elected governor but not his wife. she was yelling about something, he said. it clearly exhibited the stress what lay ahead of her for her new role as first lady. that fight interrupted by a congratulatory call from president obama. the most revealing window yet into the couple's relationship turning to the daughter. one she said was very sweet, very tender. the other very manipulative and very unpredictable and very deceptive. the governor's sister said maureen mcdonnell once texted her before she had to return to what she called that prison mansion. a close adviser to the governor saw the crush of maureen mcdonnell had on williams the businessman. they appeared to be fond of each other, she said. it was kind of flirty. it was very, very, very friendly. as uncomfortable as really asbestos unflattering this testimony is legal experts say

it may be helping the mcdonnell's case and may be difficult to convict either of them if they can convict jurors that maureen mcdonnell was acting without his husband's knowledge in accepting the gifts. she insists she is not a public official and can't be accused of accepting bribes and not expected to testify but her husband will be on the stand today and this should be some of the most dramatic testimony yesterday as bob mcdonnell talks about the frayed relationship with his own wife. >> here with us now to join this considering is mark halpern and thomas roberts is here as well. i'm having a hard time believing this disconnection between this estranged couple, estranged or not, they are married and she lives in the governor's mansion with him. and i don't know how you can blame one person and the other says he doesn't know anything about it. you would think if you had such a problem with a spouse and you were running a state, you'd be

even more tuned in and your staff that threatened to quit on her would be telling you about inappropriate activity and saying, sir, we are concerned. am i missing something? but that's how it would work anywhere. how could he be completely disconnected, mark halpern? >> he is going to be back on the stand today and talk more -- expectation he is going to talk more about the details of his marriage. the governor makes a good point in the sense that this was a businessman who was trying to create jobs so it helped virginia. so just because he was a contributor doesn't mean the guy can't get help. the question is the personal stuff that they got. there does seem to have been a certain amount of compartmentalization between the mcdonnells. there does. >> it's impossible. >> i'm not sure it's impossible because a lot of the testimony -- he is wearing a rolex and sitting in the ferrari. he can't blame that on her. >> he knew there was some interaction but i'm not sure he

knew -- >> and the staff -- >> but it was complicated, thomas, because you have mrs. mcdonnell thinking she is getting involved in a romantic relationship with this vitamin guy, you know? so, obviously, it wasn't that open, you know? >> well, i mean, is the governor okay with that is he thinking let maureen get romantically involved because he will give me a check for my daughter's wedding? >> he is okay with jonnie williams getting involved personally. >> explain the laws of virginia. joe and i had this conversation today and this is the big point. the virginia laws allow a lot of wiggle room, that allow for these type of donations to come in that then make it acceptable for this type of behavior then to go off the rail. peter, explain why, from a legal standpoint, that is why this defense has been so purposely

focused on the marital relationship of the mcdonnell's. >> somebody said in my ear. look at this picture. it was said in my ear by john tower, a lot of chiseled jaws on the screen right now. >> also this dispels the rumor we are not the same person. we get this a lot. so we are two separate people. >> two separate people. okay, that is good to know. brothers from a different mother. >> i'm skeptical here, though. peter alexander? >> so i'm clearly not a legal expert so i can't get into the nuance of this but the significance of the law in this state is exactly what goes at the base of governor mcdonnell's defense here which is what he insists is he did what he says any governor would do which is he was trying to help promote a virginia business. whether or not he was accepting gifts, he was doing what he says any government would do. that is the argument they are make pregnant. the biggest challenge that goes for the credibility of these two and governor mcdonnell who has won multiple elections out of the gates like a good boy scout

spoke directly to the prosecutor and the jurors trying to convince them of his argument and he even had one of his best friends from college at notre dame talking about what a good sort of boy scout he is. but the challenge for them is that he and his wife only a matter of months ago were hand in hand and were all smiles and their public persona for so long the way this state knew them, the way the country knew them. remember, he was considered to be a potential running mate alongside mitt romney was this real team. the idea they weren't talking is something the jurors will be suspect of. >> absolutely. he was an incredible politician for sure and probably still it. joe, break it down. a staff with a situation like that would usually notify the governor, we have a problem with your wife. >> let's brake it down. everybody can speculate all they want. the bottom line is this. the prosecution has to prove, because as thomas said, it's not illegal getting the gifts. they have got to prove intent in his mind that he did something for jonnie williams based on a

rolex watch. we can be offended by the rolex watch and the daughter's wedding and the ferferrari. it doesn't matter. fountain prosecution can connect any one of those gifts for him doing a favor for jonnie williams. maybe the prosecutor can do it. i can tell you as a lawyer, i would much rather have the defense attorney's be job than the prosecutor's job. that is a hell of a high bar to go over illegal. let's move on to arkansas and mark pryor. he is fighting for re-election in the red state of arkansas but not stopping him from touting a yea toyota. >> he did this for obamacare. he is featured with his father referring to the health care law without really mentioning it by name. >> when mark was diagnosed with cancer we thought we might lose him. >> my family and my faith helped me through the rough times.

>> but you know what? mark's insurance companies didn't want to pay for the treatment that ultimately saved his life. >> no one should be fighting an insurance company while you're fighting for your law. that's why i passed a law for prevent insurance company from cancelling your policy if you get sick. >> what do you make of this, joe? >> we were all talking. we were still all talking about the virginia trial. and husbands and wives and how they treat each other in these situations. let's move on, though. >> yes! i think we should! >> senator pryor talking about obamacare. arkansas, louisiana, populace states like that might not be a bad idea. >> mark pryor talking about voting for obamacare. not saying obamacare the affordable care act but talking about popular parts of the law and using his father.

his father is a smoother politician than he is which the ad shows. his father is beloved in the state and why it's significant is democrats are going on offense and if you go state-by-state, race-by-race, most of the democratic incumbents who are targeted are in much stronger position in august than republicans and we thought they would be. pryor is in this defense and going on offense saying thg a popular law in some ways. >> a lot of times things you just kind of get a gut feeling out there. talking to people, putting up anecdotal evidence. wes, i get a feeling as a guy who opposed obamacare, as a guy who would like to see obamacare replaced with something better, more market-driven, more sustainable, i still -- i get the sense the longer this law is in effect, the more acceptance it has with the american people. forget that. you ask americans do you support obamacare, no, i hate it but

they like parts of obamacare. they don't really understand it, but they like parts of it. say, no, i oppose it, but as far as repeal goes, i just am kind of getting the gutted feeling and wonder if you guys are feeling the same way too. the longer this law is in effect the more it becomes part of our social fabric. >> yes. >> the harder it is to paint something with horns that supports it like pryor in arkansas. >> that's right. also i think you hit the nail on the head earlier as well when you said i would like to see it replaced with something better. the problem this election has not been about this is obamacare or the alternative. >> that is the problem. >> it's obamacare or something better and no one knows what it is yet and that is the challenge. >> that is a great point. if they actually had something to replace it with and i'll go back to '94. we could say, we're against the president's health care plan. here are three republican health care plans. i like this republican health care plan but if you like

chafee's health care plan you can go that with and a moderate health care plan that maybe wouldn't be that bad. republicans have nothing. there is such a void out there. they can go, we can introduce it. no. the party hasn't come together. >> obamacare is mitt romney's plan from massachusetts. >> but mitt romney's plan from massachusetts is not -- but it's not -- that is not a traditionally mainstream republican plan. fine. congress doesn't like that. >> paul ryan has a plan but it involves making fundamental changes in medicare and medicaid for future beneficiaries and they don't want to talk about it. >> what i'm saying, though, if they don't like romney care or obamacare, what is your plan? house republicans, you control the purse strings. so what is your plan? this is a debate. they can't whine and complain. i've said this before after the

2012 election. bill kristol and a lot of other conservatives got together at "national review." they had a big talk and said, guys, next two years, we have to stand for something. we have got to come up with an alternative on the health care. we have got to come up with an alternative on immigration. we have got to -- the warning signs were there right after 2012. the house republicans have done nothing. the leadership has done nothing to break through and they can blame the media all they want. get all republicans together in front of a camera and say, we stand for this and we will fight for this and that will break through. they haven't done it. and that is why you're right. >> there have been a lot of reasons why they haven't. >> they are focused on improving relationships they have with hispanic voters and that take hand most of their time. >> there is that. it's a very difficult issue, obviously, or it would have been done a long time ago. >> it's not that difficult. coming up the tragedy of ferguson and finding a way forward. what the death of michael brown has revealed about the united

states renowned writer david von draley joins us with new cover story for "time. also how to deal with your narcissistic baby. all that and more when "morning joe" returns. [ woman ] the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this all-new 2014 cts for around $459 a month or purchase with 0% apr. hurry in -- this exceptional offer ends soon. or purchase with 0% apr. ♪hey! i found a happy space somewhere to call our own♪ ♪a happy little place and it all starts with you♪

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♪ 39 past the hour. joining us now to reveal the new cover of "time" magazine times deputy managing editor michael duffy. good to have you back on the show. from kansas city, missouri editor at law for "time" magazine tom draley who wrote the cover ever this "time" magazine. "the tragedy of ferguson." david, talk about the story. how did this happen in middle america? >> well, it happened, sadly, the same way it seems to have happened from time to time all across the country. with we discover too late that a community has completely lost the basic bonds of trust that hold a community together. the lines of communication that allow a police department or a mayor's office to talk to, you know, the people in the streets,

and a trigger event happens, in this case, the tragic killing of michael brown. and people feel like they have no way of expressing themselves, their outrage. they take to the streets. and once that happens, you know, there's no telling what is going to come next. the time to prevent a riot, to stop a riot is before it happens. >> michael duffy here. you have people holding their hands up. we just got some film from tuesday night. >> in st. louis. >> and really disturbing and run this clip equally quickly of an officer threatening civilians, including journalists. >> my hands are up, bro. my hands are up. [ bleep ] >> hands up. hands up. >> raid [ bleep ] [ bleep ] hands up. >> get back. get back. >> you're going to kill him. >> he is threatening to kill

him. >> get back. >> what is your name, sir? [ bleep ]. >> your name is [ bleep ] yourself go [ bleep ] yourself. hello, officer. >> officer, he is trying to kill me. >> what are you doing? >> i know you guys are watching. [ bleep ] he had to be told by another officer to -- >> pointing his gun at people right now for no reason. >> that cop was suspended indefinitely. >> was suspended indefinitely. "the washington post" has an interesting column where if you look at the polls, ferguson actually divides us a lot less than you think. most americans, white and black, horrified by what they are seeing on tv. >> you can't look at this story and not think it's an american tragedy that cuts across all lines. everyone loses in this tale. there are no winners for either the people in the community of ferguson, the family of michael brown, the cop, his life and career probably is, you know, coming to an end. the power structure of st. louis county. the governor. no one has come out of this

looking better. and the country saw the issues of race and criminal justice ripped open and it can only think after so many incidents, after so many occurrences, why can't we get this right? >> i think also, this isn't just a situation of white/black. the person who was just taking that video was not african-american. if you look at the crowds of people that are marching, it's not -- it's not purely african-american audience marching throughout the ferguson. this is a much bigger and broader issue about levels of distrust with law enforcement and how exactly law enforcement is being implemented and it's really hard and it's difficult to watch because all of us know that the vast majority of law enforcement officers are there doing an unbelievably difficult job and doing it under unbelievably difficult circumstances. >> i don't usually bring private conversations in my living room into broader setting, but i was sitting this summer with two other guys who have been friends

for 20 years. well to do. very white. never arrested. no scrapes with the law. and they had about a 20 or 30-minute discussion about police and how it seems like the quality of police officers nationwide is getting worse. they are too taken with their power. and they are like we are republican. we were having this before ferguson. like we were watching the bombing of gaza when we were having this discussion. there is a poll out talking about african-americans, but when rich white guys who have never had a scrape the with the law are talking about a problem with police being too taken with a little bit of power, there seems to be a tear in the social fabric here, michael. >> as david makes clear there are communities that know how to do this and integrate their police into the community day after day in real and one to one ways and communities that just don't do that. this is one of those.

throw into that the question of race and how there is no question that if you're a black male, you are treated by police differently than if you were a white male whether you did anything or not and you have an explosive situation in which we are still dealing with now. some communities know how to do this and there are people who are helping them do it. but not everyone -- >> what about this story will little narcissist? >> it's a different story. >> what are little narcissists? >> a book is written about nauc narcissism and why it's a problem for awful us. we are born crazy. we will all borne crazy selfish little monsters and we we have to learn not to be crazy monsters and selfish. >> in the generation, it just feeds into that, doesn't it? >> i'm guessing it's going to be harder to make the break.

you're supposed to do it in about kindergarten. you're supposed to learn empathy and what i learned in kindergarten really matters? look at me, i want to look at me. what the book says essentially is -- most of us make the break, there are reasons that we don't. >> right. >> and we don't have self-control. >> most of us make the break. >> most of us make it. >> most of us. mika, do you know any narcissists in your life? >> i don't. >> she handed me a book on narcissists and said do you know about this? >> i said no. >> we had a conversation. that was all. it was just me and you talking about the issue of narcissism. we will be looking for the new issue of "time". michael duffy and david von draley, thank you as well. she was the first little league player to make the cover of "sports illustrated" and she makes throwing like a girl a very good thing.

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♪ she is taking the sports world by storm. was she able to strike out the boys and help move her team along? joining us live is katy tur with that story. >> all of a sudden very rainy williamssport, pennsylvania. although the dragons did not win mo'ne pretty v valiantly especially considering she had the on her. last night all eyes were on a 13-year-old girl with a

history-making fastball. from the cover of "sports illustrated" to round-the-clock media coverage, this year's tournament has been all about mo'ne. and if she was nervous before gametime, she didn't show it, warming up and signing autographs like a pro. >> go in calm and confident so that's how i'm going to go into the game. >> reporter: but right off the bat, a run for las vegas and mo'ne's confidence clearly shaken. >> take a breath. >> you can just feel the fight in mo'ne davis. >> reporter: still, she fought through it. she said she came out here to strike boys out, and 34,000 people, including these guys right here, came out here to see her do just that. in two and a half innings, she struck out six. mo'ne is just the 18th girl to play in the little league world

series. back in 1989, nbc featured the first girl to get a hit on this hallowed field, 12-year-old victoria brucker. >> wait for my pitch to come and i just swing. >> reporter: 25 years later, and mo'ne is inspiring a whole new generation. >> girl power. >> reporter: and while the dragons may have lost, a lot of fans feel like they have already won. >> it doesn't matter that they lost, they still played as hard as they could. >> reporter: and not to worry, the dragons and mo'ne davis have another chance to play tonight. they'll face off chicago at 7:30. the winner of that game goes on to play saturday where they'll have to beat las vegas twice because it's a double elimination and that team will move on to the world series on sunday. it's going to be an exciting one. i know you guys will be watching. i'll be here. >> a great story. >> we will. >> katy tur, thank you so much. >> you know, kate is starting to play softball now. >> yes, she is.

>> we were flipping around and they have -- they also have little league world series for softball. >> you can watch it. >> i didn't know that so we were watching it. a lot of fun. >> it's adorable to watch. still ahead, kid actors take on your favorite emmy-nominated tv roles. you're watching "morning joe." >> who's playing you? >> okay. we'll be right back.

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i'll have your results in just a moment. >> mika is making me take a test on whether i'm a narcissist or

not. >> coming up at the top of the hour, war in iraq. it was the issue that launched barack obama's presidential campaign and now as commander in chief, he may be responsible for sending more troops back to that country? plus rick perry, fresh off his fancy mug shot, will be making a big speech today. we'll have an exclusive first look at what he's saying. >> if i looked like that guy i'd be a narcissist. >> this is not the cosmo quiz, by the way, this is in "time" magazine. >> i took a quiz in "the washington post" on whether you're a narcissist. you only have to answer one question, and i passed. ♪

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i wish i had more time to see my family. >> the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of jim foley by the terrorist group isil. a just god would stand for what they did yesterday and a group like isil has no place in the 21st century. >> the u.s. is not stepping down. a now proposal to send up to 300 more u.s. troops there. >> the bigger step, he could take the fight to syria. >> president assad in syria, he's the one who released dozens of islamist militants from his prisons. >> when the west refused to arm syria's moderate rebels, they were outgunned by the militants whose success drew in recruits. >> it may be adding to the

conviction if isis isn't confronted, it may move closer to the yuds. >> look around you when you sit in comfort and ask yourself is this how you want to die. >> attorney general eric holder went to ferguson today. >> many here argue the prosecutor bob mccullouh should be we moved. the lack of trust is one of the reasons attorney general holder came to meet with his investigators. >> last night looked a little better, huh? >> residents still waiting on a grand jury, still eight weeks from a decision. >> there were no molotov cocktails tonight, no fires, no shootings. >> a hope that ferguson may have hit a turning point. >> are people eventually going to go home? yes, that will happen. does that mean that things are solved? no. good morning, everybody. it is thursday, august 21st. welcome to "morning joe." a lot to get to this morning. >> boy, we do. >> we've got on the front page of all the papers, news that there was an attempt to rescue

jim foley. we'll start there. the pentagon confirms that dozens of special operations troops unsuccessfully tried to rescue the journalist, james foley, and other american hostages earlier this summer in syria. the captives were not at the targeted location and foley was ultimately murdered by islamic militants. officials say one u.s. commando was injured in the mission and several militants were killed. >> so people are really angry right now. >> very. >> about not only -- not only about this murder. a lot of people inside the pentagon, snie"the new york tim is reporting very angry this information was released. a lot feeling it was released so the president would look like he is engaged. he obviously is getting hammered for going out golfing right after this horrifying news. "the daily news" has this on the front page. that actually cuts both ways.

but can you imagine -- i mean both of you, if you're president of the united states and like the europeans pay these hostage ransoms all the time. >> they do. >> but barack obama didn't. and america usually doesn't. but what a terrible choice to have to make. >> it is a terrible choice, and other countries do it. president obama is vowing not to let up the campaign against the terrorists responsible for the bloodshed. here he is yesterday. >> jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world. no just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. isil has no ideology of any value to human beings. from governments and peoples across the middle east, there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so that it does not spread. there has to be a clear rejection of these kind of

anilistic ideologies. one thing we can all agree on is that a group like isil has no place in the 21st century. >> so this is the picture that president obama is facing criticism for. after his speech, this is what he did just a short time after his speech. he was seen smiling on the golf course in martha's vineyard, along with former nba star alonzo mourning. the other part of the day yesterday was just heart-wrenching. before this you heard from foley's parents as well in a news conference. so a lot of people are feeling that this picture really shows a president who is disengaged and a president who really doesn't sort of have a sense of tone in terms of the moment. >> there are actually two ways to look at this. you know, your first instinct is to look at this, right? and to say how horrifying. and it's the truth. there's another way to look at it too, which is i mean, you

know, george w. bush told us to go shopping, to go to malls after 9/11. show those terrorists. here i think there are probably one or two terrorists in isis, because this is how they make their money, right? this is al qaeda funded their operations by kidnapping europeans and getting ransom money, right? and so they are negotiating with spock with a pitching wedge here. no, they really are. he is spock. maureen dowd calls him spock. he's spock. and i'm sure there may be one or two terrorists, willie, over in syria looking at him going, wow, that's one cold bastard. like he goes golfing on martha's vineyard. and by the way, people might be watching going are you criticizing the president or not. i don't know what i'm doing. i just know that this is how terrorists fund their organizations. and if the president were in the white house wringing his hands

and weeping, no, he's out golfing. and it's horrible for the parents, but it does send a message to the terrorists. i'm sure barack obama would say, you know, if we can't go golfing at an exclusive golf course at martha's vineyard, then the terrorists have already won. >> all right, i don't think he'd say that. >> i'm not making light of any situation, i'm merely pointing out these are horrible, horrible optics domestically, but internationally, willie, for terrorists, it's basically like screw you. screw you. we're not going to live by your rules. >> yes. >> try to follow that. you know what i'm saying. >> yeah, no, i follow what you're saying. so we know that this president, this white house has no time or patience for what we call optics, theater. i'm doing the job. if i play golf once in a while, so be it. in this case, though, and i always hate the vacation and golf criticism that happens

every summer with every president. we know the president can do his job wherever he is. >> by the way, let's just say right here, presidents are always working. >> right. >> even on a -- whether they're on the golf course or behind the desk, they're always working. >> yes. so that's the first part. and the second part is, but, in this case you had such a horrific act. people saw it and it was on the front page of newspapers and the family was crying. you'd think out of respect just for the family even, forget what the press thinks about it, for the family maybe just take a step back and quietly go about your job. now, he is attacking isis relentlessly. air strikes again yesterday. air strikes this entire month. it's not like he's sitting back and doing nothing. >> and i want to say, i don't want to confuse anybody here, mika, i couldn't have done it. >> right. >> i could not have gone out and played golf. i just couldn't have done it. that said, you know maureen dowd always calls him spock. he's kind of spock.

and in this case, as maddening as that may seem, it may work. i do -- i do wonder, though, when you look at these terrorists, what are they thinking? like they just traded in a war-weary sleeping giant for a pissed-off country. the story always ends the same. wait, let's see. no, it didn't. osama bin laden -- no, wait a second, he got a bullet through his eye. oh, but saddam hussein got -- no. we actually ripped off his head from his body after he was hung. dresdan, hiroshima, nagasaki, i mean they have placed a huge target on their backs by doing this. and i'm serious, when are the bad guys going to understand that it's just better to walk on the other side of the street.

go ahead, pick on europeans, they'll pay you ransom. they're on a vacation from history. and again, i'm not being facetious here. >> no, you're not. >> this is just stupid. >> nothing piques the conscious of war-weary americans than pictures like we saw yesterday all over the front panlz. >> it's horrifying. >> it's horrifying and you can't just sit and let this go by. your sons, your brother, your father, your uncle. >> and, willie, they have exposed themself as the cancer that they are. the president of the united states is now calling them a cancer that has to be cut out. >> and everyone will agree. >> and the attacks now will only accelerate from the united states and they already have as of yesterday. let's go to washington now. bbc state department correspondent is just back from lebanon. kim, thanks for being with us. >> great to be here. >> what more can you tell us about what happened, looking at the commando raid, the attempted anyway by special forces of the united states to go after and rescue jim foley, a failed

attempt because he had been moved by the time the special forces got there? >> reporter: well, first of all, i'd like to point out that we are marking today the one-year anniversary of the chemical weapon attacks against syrians just outside damascus. that provoked a brief moment of international outrage at the time, which almost led to american and european military strikes against syria, which in the end did not happen. and syria one year on is in an even worse place. we heard from the french president yesterday saying that if the international community had shown a bit more resolve in pushing for a transition in syria, in other words, if the u.s. and its european allies had gone for strikes, perhaps isis would not be where it is today. >> so, kim, can i ask you about that because there's a debate obviously going on in the united states between two pretty powerful democrats, hillary clinton saying that she called

for it earlier and barack obama saying that it's, quote, fantasy, her position and the president of france's position. what is the feeling throughout the international community, throughout the european community about what would have happened. are they on the other side of the president and intervening in syria before this madness took over the entire country? >> reporter: my reading from talking to european officials and from being in the arab world is that there is very much a sense that the u.s. left a vacuum in the region, which was filled by jihadis, by hezbollah, by iran, by russia. that's very much hillary clinton's view as well. it's debatable, of course. but looking at the situation on the ground at the moment, that is very much the feeling that europeans have. and i do believe that because of what's happening in iraq, because of what we saw happen to james foley and because of this attempt to rescue american hostages in syria, i do think

it's only a matter of time before the president will have to consider the possibility of strikes against islamic militants in syria. the conundrum there is inadvertently he may shoire up president assad. let's go to iraq now. joining us from erbil, nbc chief global correspondent bill neely with the latest on the ground there. bill? >> reporter: yes. well, the u.s. air strikes have not stopped since the murder of jim foley. there were at least 14 yesterday, bringing to 84 the total number of air strikes in the mosul dam area in particular since this campaign started. as you've heard, the big question is where does this campaign end? what are its goals? initially it was to stop a genocide against the yazidis, the religious minority and also

to protect u.s. facilities here in erbil. the isis advance on erbil appears to have been stopped so why is the u.s. continuing its campaign? president obama said yesterday that we will act, we will confront isis, but for how much longer and how deep is the involvement of the u.s. here in northern iraq going to be? it's easy to start a campaign, not so easy to end it. interestingly, this military operation, unlike so many others in the past, desert storm, desert fox, does not have a name. there is no brand on this operation and no end in sight. >> that is the question, what is the objective now. how far does the united states go. nbc's bill neely on the ground in iraq. bill, thanks for your reporting. we appreciate it. in other news, officials are hopeful the tide is turning in ferguson, missouri, following the second straight night of reduced demonstration. it follows a visit by attorney general eric holder who met with captain ron johnson, along with college students and community

leaders. he said he understands why there's mistrust of police, recalling when he was stopped twice for speeding and had his car searched. attorney general holder rejected criticism of his trip to ferguson. >> i need to be here, you know. i'm a little disturbed to see people questioning why i was here. my answer to that would be why would i be any other place other than right here right now to talk to the people in this area who are deserving of our attention and we want to help as best we can. >> meanwhile, prosecutors began presenting evidence to a grand jury which will determine whether the officer that shot michael brown at least six times should be charged. joining us now from ferguson, nbc's craig melvin. craig, the reports from the ground last night, relative peace. is that what you saw? >> reporter: willie geist, for the second straight night, peaceful, it was calm. just to give you some perspective here, monday into tuesday, nearly 70 arrests. tuesday into wednesday, more than 50 arrests.

last night here, as of 1:00 a.m. there were six arrests. by and large those half dozen folks were arrested for failure to disperse, disturbing the peace. captain johnson indicated that law enforcement felt like the tide might be beginning to turn here in ferguson. we should note that there were some pretty severe thunderstorms at one point last night, but even before that, we saw the smallest, quietest crowd of protesters that we've seen so far on the ground here. of course the highlight or the headline yesterday, i should say, attorney general eric holder on the ground for several hours meeting with community leaders, meeting with captain johnson as well. also spent some time with the congressional delegation, talked to missouri governor jay nixon as well. and in addition to speaking from the heart about his own experiences as a young black man in america, he also -- we should remember here this is the same

attorney general who just last week was somewhat critical of the response here in ferguson. at one point saying they should get these damn tanks out of here. but again, based on what i saw yesterday, based on the folks i talked to last night, it appears, it appears that right now peace and order are about to be restored to ferguson. >> we can hope. craig, thank you very much. >> i love that line that eric holder gave, which is, you know, people are criticizing for being there. where else would i be? i don't always agree with this guy, but he's right. where else would he be, right? >> i want to show you a piece of video that came -- it's from tuesday night. local police officer threatening what appeared to be a peaceful protester on the streets. >> oh, my god. gun raised, gun raised, gun raised and pointed. >> my hands are up, bro. my hands are up.

>> get back, get back. >> you're going to kill him? >> he's trying to kill me? >> what's your name, sir? go [ bleep ] yourself, all right? hello, officer, go [ bleep ] yourself. >> office, go [ bleep ] yourself, he's trying to kill me. >> i hope you guys are watching this. he had to be told by another officer not to point the gun. >> what in the hell -- >> the st. louis county police department says the officer has been relieved of duty. >> what in the hell? >> so i would say that there's been a lot of discussion about the imbalance along the police forces there. i think this was st. louis. also just how poorly trained these guys are and the situation they're in. it's a bad mix. i'm making no excuses for that guy. that was horrendous. but my god, it does show they are totally unmatched to today's times. >> totally, willie, unmatched.

and it's not like -- >> there's cameras clearly there. >> it's not like this hasn't been going on and this guy is pointing a live weapon in the -- what's going on here? >> he's being goaded, yes. >> you'd think two weeks into this, the learning curve would be such that you're not waving a semiautomatic weapon at a crowd with media all around. you shouldn't do it anyway, but with cameras all over the place. >> there are just -- it is -- >> the media is there and this guy is in the middle of it pointing -- >> well, you know, i just saw -- i looked at the video earlier and obviously someone was raising camera video but then a television camera crossed and this guy was clearly knowledgeable that he was being videotaped, so at least you would think he would stop for fear of being seen doing that, that he shouldn't be doing that. >> he says he thought he saw somebody with a gun so he raised his weapon. he thought he was being confronted. turned out it was a bb gun.

so he saw something he thought was a gun and the police say they relieved him because of the way he treated the crowd and the language he used, not in the approach that he used. >> i would agree with that. i mean if a crowd is dpogoading you, that's going to incite you even more. it's incredible. still ahead, a trip to hollyweird where will offerman lists his comments and shower thoughts. plus arming cops and mill tarrizing our cities. >> dude, super armor, dude. >> he doesn't want anybody to see him in there. >> dude, you can't even see him. >> unless you live in downtown kab kabul, there is no practical need for anything like that in your town. >> how one comedian was able to torpedo an armored tank in a michigan town. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill. >> my best effort to torpedo the show, you're supposed to say, mika. chicago o'hare airport one of the few with delays right now.

thunderstorms widespread. you can almost draw a line from minneapolis all the way down to chicago. so right now we're holding at about 45-minute delays with thunderstorms in the area. i think those delays will build as we go. on the radar you can see why. here is the chicago area, all the little white flashes on there, those are lightning strikes. this is our live lightning tracker on top of the radar imagery. there's a batch of pretty strong thunderstorms between dekalb and chicago. that's going right over o'hare shortly. that's why we'll build those delays. we have thunderstorms to the north of the huge heat dome and the hot temperatures continue. yesterday was 100 degrees from texas, upper 90s all the way to florida. look at the forecast in memphis, tennessee. 97 to 98 five days in a row and it easily goes into next week and almost to labor day. so we're in a new weather pattern where it's hot in the southern half of the country in the southeast and cooler in the west. the one exception is the northeast. boston, new york city area, you're not going to get this intense heat like the rest of the southern half of the country is. you're watching "morning joe."

washington, d.c., you're right in the middle. a little bit of heat, a little bit of humidity and a lot of thunderstorms the next few days. we'll be right back. what if there was a credit card where the reward was that new car smell and the freedom of the open road? a card that gave you that "i'm 16 and just got my first car" feeling. presenting the buypower card from capital one. redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac - with no limits. so every time you use it, you're not just shopping for goods. you're shopping for something great. learn more at buypowercard.com

all right, let's take a look at the morning papers now, shall we? "the atlanta journal constitution," nbc has learned a u.s. doctor who contracted the ebola virus in west africa will be released today. dr. kent brantly was part of a

christian aid organization working with affected patients when he became sick. he was transferred to emory university hospital earlier this month. brantly is expected to make a statement at a news conference at 11:00 a.m. eastern time this morning. emory officials will also give an update on nancy writebol. >> boy, that's great news. we certainly are thankful for that. >> yep. and "usa today" videos captured an amazing moment when a huge fish actually turned the tables and ate a shark in florida. here in the clip. fisherman is reeling in a four-foot long shark. all of a sudden a giant grouper sneaks up. >> oh, my goodness. >> look at that! that's something you don't see often, and devours the shark. a grouper actually eating a shark. i -- okay. so does this mean that next year we're going to have grouper week on animal planet?

>> i think, and groupnado. >> look at the size of that thing. "the houston chronicle," police uncovered more than a million dollars of weed after busting two illegal fields outside of houston, texas. >> you can almost smell it from here. >> the marijuana plants were cut down and removed from the area via a helicopter. officials say the fields covered about five acres behind a prison. the suspected growers ran off into the woods and remain at large. >> a lot of sad stoners watching that weed carried by helicopter out of there. >> come on, move on. >> they're going to move it somewhere. >> this is like cute news you can't use. >> so this from the "san diego union tribune." meet these two unlikely pals. a cheetah cub and a puppy named reyna. the cheetah was rejected by his mother, so when he was just a few weeks old, the san diego zoo safari park paired him up with a friend to help acclimate him to

life at the park and then released this video showcasing play time. >> that's not going to last forever. >> i saw "born free." i know how it ends. first he was indicted, then he had his mug shot taken, then he had some ice cream and now he's delivering a major speech in washington. >> you go, rick perry. >> an exclusive first look at what governor rick perry will be saying today. plus, has target regained the trust of shoppers following last year's massive security breach? "morning joe" will be right back.

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oh, my god. >> do you remember that cartoon ziggy? i cut it out and put it up in my office. do you remember ziggy? everybody remember him? you don't, you're too young. he's lying on the coach and the psychiatrist said, no, ziggy, the whole world is not against you, over 4 billion people don't even know that you exist. so in "time" magazine, meacham, there's a little poll you can take. >> a poll? >> test. >> a test, to see if you're a

narcissist. >> mika had me take it and i passed. >> i had joe take it. >> how did i do? >> the top score -- or the average score, here we go. average score is a 4. >> now, okay, so the average score is a 4. what do you think i got on it, jon? >> 1.5. >> close. i got a 9. >> i was so close. >> which you know what that means, i'm twice as great as everybody else. >> i thought that's what it meant. i think it's important to tell yourself that. >> i'm kidding, i'm kidding. t.j., they know i'm kidding. >> the test is hysterical. i could have answered every question for you. >> i did get a 9, though. he is -- >> that's the first time i've ever been ahead of the curve on like any test. >> it's fantastic. >> i remember one time, speaking of ratings, i went to a town hall meeting and i got a 50% from some -- i think it was

league of conservation voters, something like that. i got a 50%. and they were all there and gave me a standing ovation because for a republican i was seen as being very green. i stood after that and said thank you so much. this is the first time since eighth grade math that i actually was applauded for getting a 50. isn't that something? if the bar is set lower -- >> somehow there's a tie here. today governor rick perry is set to come out swinging in a speech, targeting president obama's policies. let's bring in chief white house correspondent for politico, mike allen. mike, you have an exclusive first look at his speech. what is he going to be saying? >> well, good morning, mika. i'm starting to wonder if some other candidates should get indicted ever since governor perry was indicted. he has a spring in his step, the sass is back, he's sounding more confident. we saw the ice cream stop yesterday. so today he's going to be in d.c. he's going to stop by the

chinese ambassador, the japanese envoy ahead of his asia trip next week. and he's giving a speak at heritage where he's very tough on the president. and he basically predicts an attack on the u.s. by the islamic state. he says that president obama is going to be a victim of mission creep by isis. he says they're going to start to deliver on threats that they have made and maybe it's a hijacker with passports coming in, maybe it's someone who slips across the border. here's the money line, rick perry will say today what rational observer doubts that such an attack is part of the plan? he's also going to talk about borders and he's going to say that chaos is not a condition for fixing immigration. he said for someone who wants to talk about comprehensive immigration reform, i say to them, let's first talk about comprehensive immigration enforcement.

>> mike allen, thank you. to his point, rick perry wears an indictment well, i guess. >> he really does. >> enjoying every moment. >> he looks good, right? i'm asking, a great-looking guy. you've got competition right there. >> obviously this is a gift from the democrats to a person that is potentially running for president. >> i actually think it is. >> because of the swagger that he has come out with and the people cheering him on and saying this is ridiculous. and certain people that have come out on the left saying that this smells. >> like sarah palin's complaints, but real. >> "the new york times" editorial page coming out in favor of rick perry. that doesn't happen often. let's go to "business before the bell." joining us now brian sullivan with the latest. brian, start with the fed. >> okay. so yesterday we had the fed minutes, that's basically their 20-page summation of the previous meeting. nobody cares except when they talk about raising interest rates. yesterday we got some clues that

more members of the fed, there are ten voting members, want to raise interest rates sooner than expected. >> really, why is that? >> well, the economy has gotten better, joe. we've talked about this. i've been more bullish on the economy for a number of years but now we're starting to see the jobs numbers get better. that's key. the fed really has two mandates, one of which, probably the biggest of them, is to maximize employment. so that's a positive. janet yellen speaks tomorrow, kind of a super bowl for us in business news. if she gives hints that interest rates could go up -- >> let me just say to you in business news, i'm sorry. that's your super bowl, really? >> i think it's cool. >> thank you, mika. >> what's cool about it? janet yellen talking about what? >> she's awesome. >> i'm going to be on that couch with ziggy if this keeps up. that's the way it works. >> so the economy heats up a little bit, they raise interest rates. doesn't that slow down the economy and is the market going to go down today because of it? >> no. that's the thing. that's the good news.

we're five points away from our all-time high on the s&p 500. i personally believe the economy can withstand some interest rate hikes. remember, we're still incredibly low. it's not like we're going back to the '80s where your parents probably paid 17% for a mortgage. mortgage rates are about 4% if you can get the credit. so the markets have done pretty well. even in the face of this, guys -- >> so mika has a question. i'm sorry to cut you off but we're going to talk about a french store and mika wants to have the conversation. mika, your favorite french store. >> target. >> some big problems. >> they had some big problems, but there's good news here. remember the huge data breach last year at target? guess what, most of the shoppers have come back. they lost a bunch of shoppers. the ceo out saying many of the shoppers, most of them have indeed come back. perhaps a restoration of -- not restoration hardware, a restoration of trust at target. so mika, next time we can do the interview in french.

[ speaking french ] >> i'm getting really uncomfortable. is his french as bad as your father's? >> oh, no, my dad is the worst and he thinks it's really good. oh, my god. >> brian sullivan, thank you so much. appreciate it, brian. get back on that couch. still ahead, this is the mine restraint resistant ambush proof vehicle which michigan had in their arsenal. >> yes. >> for saginaw. the reason why they're getting rid of it now? well, "morning joe" will tell you and it has to do with a comedian. >> oh, good god.

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ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. if you're wondering what it feels like to have a mine-resistant vehicle on the streets of your town, i give you a youtube video of two dudes from saginaw, michigan. >> holy [ bleep ], dude. >> super armor, dude. >> he doesn't want anybody to

see him in there. >> dude, you can't even see him. that's crazy! >> saginaw colony sheriff, dude. that looks cool, dude. look how big these tires are. it's taller than -- dude. >> it's awesome! >> now, to be fair, to be fair, that is exactly how they reacted when chipotle first opened there. >> that was john oliver on sunday, mocking america's heightened militarizatiomilitar. the next day -- >> the next day, mika. >> the next day, that it's decided to give back that mine-resistant vehicle. the sheriff claims the decision was in the works for a while saying it was expensive to maintain and they didn't use it, so why keep it around. that's a good question. >> there were people that fought in iraq in '03 that said the cops in ferguson had better gear

than they had the first time. >> stop it. >> no, they did. the first time they went into iraq. >> that's exactly right. >> is it true? >> and people completely underestimate the costs that it takes to take these things on. when you have cities who are scrapping everything, you know, cutting, making every cut across the board. but we have mraps that are readily deployed in case something happens. >> hardware or pensions? one of the two. >> hardware that you don't use. >> okay. so joining us now from ferguson, missouri, "washington post" reporter radially balance could. he's the author of "rise of the warrior cop" now out in paperback. >> that seems timely. >> very timely. >> we've talked about this before. just how expansive has this become in middle america? >> well, it's been everywhere, not just middle america. this pentagon program that's been giving this stuff away since the early 1980s, it's been

going to police departments all across the country. you've got the department of homeland security that's been giving out grants to buy new military-grade equipment and so you've got, you know, tiny towns across the country that are getting these mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles that were designed for use in war in iraq and afghanistan that are now being used on main street. so the question of the gear itself and whether that's appropriate for policing, but there's also the question of the mindset that you sort of instill in police officers when you dress them in camouflage and give them military-grade weapons and military-grade vehicles and whether that's appropriate in domestic policing. i argue that it isn't. >> and of course s.w.a.t. teams, he writes about s.w.a.t. teams. not for hostage raids, but for routine busts. >> well, it seems pretty intense. radley, i want to ask you, though, because we do live in a post-9/11 america and we can understand where homeland

security is coming in trying to shore up where maybe some of our more vulnerable spots are around the country and having these types of equipment places already strategically mapped out around the country. so what would you say to people that in certain towns would say it's okay, i just don't want to know about it, i don't want to see it, but it's okay if we have access to it when we do? >> sure. a couple of responses to that. first, when they have it, they want to use it. when you have this kind of gear, it can be sort of expensive to maintain. and so they -- what they end up doing is end up using it for more routine policing like serving drug warrants. when you make a drug arrest, there are federal grants attached to that. there's also asset forfeiture policy. so this equipment is expensive to maintain. when you use it for drug policing, for example, you can actually start generating revenue for your police department. so these strong incentives to use it once you have it. the other thing is that this

equipment is not going to necessarily sensitive targets, it's going to the police departments that are best at manipulating the system. so places like fargo, north dakota, and wisconsin, tuscaloosa, alabama, are getting this stuff. these aren't places that are likely to come to al qaeda or isis any time soon. >> wes. >> so what are the chances of actually have a much bigger, broader conversation about being able to properly identify where you have these resources and where you have a need? one thing we are going to see with this massive redeployment of soldiers overseas is that you will have a lot of machinery that something has to be done with it. is there a bigger, broader conversation about where that machinery can be placed most effectively? >> there is, and i think we need to have that conversation. but i don't think we should just assume that because it's bulletproof and because it shoots things that it's appropriate for domestic policing. you know, this stuff was designed for use on a battlefield. it was designed to annihilate a foreign enemy. a soldier's job is to kill

people and break things. it's to defeat the enemy. that's not what police do. the job of police officers is to protect our rights, to keep the peace, to protect and serve, the famous motto. these are two very, very different missions. we shouldn't assume that the equipment that's appropriate for one of those jobs is necessarily appropriate for the other. >> all right, radially balan ra thank you very, very much. up next, sofia vergara finds love in the form of a distant celeb admirer. and a "game of thrones" star who takes method acting to the next level. >> he looks very happy. >> we're going back to hollyweird. what would happen... if energy could come from anything? or if power could go anywhere?

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i've got a question our producer's judgment. we're tossing to hollyweird and thomas is here. why would i do it. do that thing. >> i think i decided it didn't work for my brand. >> it gave you a migraine? >> it was a one-time thing. >> come on, do something funny. >> all right. i'm a humble man. >> he's so naurs cystic he can't do it. >> here's bill karins with hollyweird. >> they're the definition of a celebrity power couple. now actor joe manganiello is admitting that he had a thing for sofia vergara between the

two started dating. the "magic mike" star was caught taking a little peek. if you're a "games of thrones" fan, do you ever wonder what he does? he's scary. he easily won europe's strongest man competition, even shredding his shirt for good measure. >> i am the future -- >> frightening you so much. >> i'd be a bloody fool if he didn't frighten he. he's freakish big and freakish strong. >> while some of the most well-known figures have been continuing to turn up ice bucket videos, we like to keep you appraised of the most hollyweird among them. >> being an amphibian, it turns out getting drenched by freezing cold water could actually make me go totally dormant and my heart could stop. but no matter.

>> california has been in a drought, so i improvised. cookie. >> finally, we give you "parks & recreation" star nick offerman greeting some of the things you ever found in a shower. >> if your shirt isn't tucked into your pants, then your pants are tucked into your shirt. the person who would proofread hitler's speeches was a grammar nazi. my right elbow has never been touched by my right hand. if hillary clinton wins in 2016, it will be the first time two presidents have had sex with each other. >> i'd like to fact check that, is that true? >> will this be the first time the two presidents -- it seems

like james buchanan went back -- >> let me just say that i hope so. although george h.w. bush did once -- mistakenly said -- >> what? what? >> once mistakenly said -- >> we'll be back with that. le p. and "minus" our expenses. perfect timing. we're offering our best-ever pricing on mobile plans for business. run the numbers on that. well, unlimited talk and text, and ten gigs of data for the five of you would be... one-seventy-five a month. good calculating kyle. good job kyle. you just made partner. our best-ever pricing on mobile share value plans for business. now with a $100 bill credit for every business line you add. angieby making it easy to buyng and schedule service by top-rated providers, conveniently stay up-to-date on progress, and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with the angie's list mobile app. visit angieslist.com today. (yawn)

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strong chin. >>. listen to my voice and give me a lot of money, deal? >> deal! >> for a minute i thought a lady was speaking. >> okay. >> oh, my gosh. >> just in time for the primetime emmys coming up on monday. >> kids reenact. that's cute. >> i tell you what i learned today. jon meacham has been talking about writing this book about george h.w. bush. i did not know it was going to be a kitty kelly style. talking about having sex with ronald reagan? i dare you, jon meacham. >> george walker bush meaning to say we've had setbacks and said we had sex. he said i actually didn't mean that. >> very good. that's good to know. what did you learn? >> mine is also jon meacham-related. he is interesting in co-authoring some with sofia vergara.

>> just curious. happy to take the meeting. >> you're not the only one. >> happy to take the meeting. >> wes? >> what did you learn? >> i learned that tonight we have one more shot of watching mo'ne davis. we wish her the best. >> let's hope so. what did you learn, mika? >> i learned what you learned about reagan and sex and all that. so if it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's time for "morning joe." i encourage you to take the narcissism quiz and see if you did as well as i did. stick around, though. right now it's time for "the daily rundown." >> craig melvin. tonight was a very good night in ferguson. >> no justice, no peace. >> crowds were smaller, they were calm and honorable. last night through 2:00 a.m., the number of arrests were 47. tonight the number was six. >> who did